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Top 500 home run hitters of all time
This is a list of the top 500 Major League Baseball home run hitters. In the sport of baseball, a home run is a hit in which the batter scores by circling all the bases and reaching the home plate in one play. This can be accomplished both by hitting the ball out of play while it is still in fair territory (a conventional home run), or by the inside the park home run. Barry Bonds holds the Major League Baseball home run record with 761. He passed Hank Aaron, who is currently second with 755, on August 7, 2007. Third is Babe Ruth with 714. Willie Mays (660) and Sammy Sosa (605) are the only other players to have hit 600 or more. Sean Casey is the most recent entrant into the top 500 list with his 129th homer on August 6, 2007. Pat Burrell was the most recent player to reach 200 home runs on July 17, 2007; Steve Finley the most recent to 300 on June 14, 2006; and Carlos Delgado the most recent to 400 on August 22, 2006. On June 28, 2007, Frank Thomas became the 21st player to hit 500 home runs (see 500 home run club). He was followed by Alex Rodriguez on August 4, 2007 when he became the 22nd, youngest ever, and most recent player to hit his 500th home run. On June 20, 2007, Sammy Sosa became the most recent player to hit 600 home runs. Barry Bonds is the most recent to reach 700 home runs (September 17, 2004). The youngest player on the list is Miguel Cabrera, 24 years old; the oldest active player is Julio Franco, age 49 (who has been the oldest player in MLB since 2004, and is the oldest regularly playing position player in MLB history). To make the top 200 (including ties) on the all-time list, a player would need 241 or more home runs, while 191 homers are needed to enter the top 300. To be the 400th best of all-time, a player would need 155. The 500th most prolific career home run hitter, however, has only 26 fewer, at 129. The last change in the cutoff for the top 500 was on July 8, 2007, when Kenny Lofton hit his 129th homer and displaced two players from the list. Sadaharu Oh holds the world baseball record for home runs, having hit 868 in the Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball league. Milestones The following players reached major home run milestones in 2008: 600 career homers: *Ken Griffey, Jr. — June 8 500 career homers: *Manny Ramirez — May 31 The following players reached major home run milestones in 2007: Sole possession of first place: *Barry Bonds — August 7 600 career homers: *Sammy Sosa — June 20 500 career homers: *Frank Thomas — June 28 *Alex Rodriguez — August 4 200 career homers: *Adam Dunn — April 2 *José Cruz, Jr. — April 15 *Jorge Posada — April 17 *Aramis Ramírez — April 23 *Geoff Jenkins — May 20 *Adrián Beltré — May 28 *Mike Cameron — May 31 *Pat Burrell — July 17 Entry into the top 500: *Kevin Millar with his 127th career homer — April 8 *Kenny Lofton with his 127th career homer — May 20. He was displaced from the top 500 when Travis Hafner hit his 128th career home run on May 31. *Travis Hafner with his 127th career homer — May 23 *Melvin Mora with his 128th career homer — June 13 *Kenny Lofton with his 128th career homer — June 24 *Miguel Cabrera with his 129th career homer — July 29 *Sean Casey with his 129th career homer — August 6 Bumped from the top 500 during the 2007 season (in addition to Lofton, who returned to the list): *Kiki Cuyler (128) *Frank McCormick (128) *Jody Davis (127) *Troy O'Leary (127) *Sam Thompson (127) *Wally Westlake (127) List Listed are all Major League Baseball players with 129 or more home runs, the current cutoff for the top 500 (includes ties for the top 500, whenever applicable). Players in bold face are currently active (88 total), with the number in parentheses designating the number of home runs they have hit during the current season. Last updated: February 23, 2011 * There have been two players named Frank Thomas. The active player has played since 1990 with the White Sox, Athletics, and Blue Jays. The earlier player with 286 HRs played from 1951 to 1966 with the Pirates, Reds, Cubs, Braves, Mets, Phillies and Colt .45s (now Astros). Close to the top 500 As of June 7 2008, three active players are within five home runs of entering the top 500, now with a cutoff of 130 career homers: * Russell Branyan (126) * Ramón Hernández (126) * Aaron Boone (125) * There have been two players named Frank Thomas. The active player has played since 1990 with the White Sox and the Athletics, and is now a member of the Blue Jays. The earlier player with 286 HRs played from 1951 to 1966 with the Pirates, Reds, Cubs, Braves, Mets, Phillies and Colt .45s (now Astros). Through August 28, 2007, two active players are within five home runs of entering the top 500, now with a cutoff of 129 career homers: * Michael Tuckerhttp://www.pawsox.com/team/player_moves/ (125) * Corey Koskie (124) See also related lists *List of lifetime home run leaders through history *MLB players with 2000 hits *MLB players with 400 doubles *MLB players with 100 triples *MLB players with 1000 runs *MLB players with 1000 RBI *MLB players with 300 stolen bases *MLB players with a .400 on-base percentage *MLB players with a .500 slugging percentage *MLB players with a .900 on-base plus slugging References *First page of official MLB career home run list (links to subsequent pages at bottom of list) *How will fans respond to Barry Bonds’ 755? (Bob Costas opinion and Major League Baseball fans square off) Category:Records Category:Lists